Prescription drug takeback day set for Sept. 27

pills

EDWARDSVILLE — State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons, Coroner Steve Nonn, Sheriff Bob Hertz and the Drug Free Coalitions of Madison County are once again encouraging Madison County residents to bring their expired, or unwanted, prescription or over-the-counter medications to Edwardsville as part of the National Take-Back Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

As part of Gibbons’ ongoing participation in the Lock Your Meds public outreach campaign, he is sponsoring a collection site at the County Administration Building in Edwardsville with Nonn and Hertz as part of the upcoming National Take-Back Initiative scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, on the parking lot on Second Street behind the County Administration Building, 157 N. Main St. in Edwardsville.

There will be free prescription lock bags to the first 25 individuals who bring their medications to the site. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

Last April, about 780,000 pounds of prescription drugs were turned in across the United States at about 4,114 state and local law enforcement sites. In eight previous Take-Back Events, about 4.1 million pounds of pills have been collected nationwide.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses from these drugs. Studies show most abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.